I need help telling a neighbor of criminal behavior that occurred last night

[KantversusHume]

Early this morning, three teenagers/young men attempted to steal from my family. We were able to intervene and stop the criminal activity and are alerting our neighbors so they will be more vigilant if they wish to be so. One of my neighbors speaks only Spanish and I speak only English. I believe one other neighbor on my street speaks some Spanish, but I am never certain when she is home. Regardless, she is not home now. I wish to leave a message with our Spanish speaking neighbor, so that he will be aware for the protection of his family, especially because the scum who tried to rob us looked as if they were going to attempt to rob them instead.

If anyone would help me to translate my message below to a proper Spanish rendering, I would be truly grateful.


This is what I wish to say:


"Sir,


This is **********, you neighbor three houses down. I wanted to make you aware that three young men, possibly teenagers or young adults, were attempting to steal either our car or the tires off of it last night at 2:20 am. Our dog alerted us, and while we were grabbing our guns and calling the police, the three ran down to your house and were among your vehicles. I am uncertain whether our dog startled them and they decided to try to rob your vehicles and possibly your house instead or whether they realized we had awoken and were trying to hide.

When they realized we could see them, they began to posture uncertainly, as if they were torn between testing our resolve or seeking to run. When we didn't back down and displayed our weapons, two of the three began looking for a way to run through the field adjacent to the highway, while one continued to posture. We informed him that the police were on their way and that we intended to kill him if he came towards us. He ran.

I just felt it was the proper thing to do amongst neighbors to alert you, so that you would be aware and prepared in case there are any future disturbances. As I don't think you speak English and I speak extremely little Spanish, I sought help in translating this in order to be able to let you know. I hope this is properly communicated. If you want to discuss this further, we can work out a way to communicate to each other more directly through somebody bilingual in English and Spanish and I would be happy to do so."









This is what Google Translate determined I had written, as translated into Spanish:

"Señor,


Se trata de ********, vecino tres casas más abajo. Quería hacerle saber que tres jóvenes, ya sean adolescentes o adultos jóvenes, estaban tratando de robar o bien nuestro coche o los neumáticos fuera de ella ayer por la noche a las 2:20 am. Nuestro perro nos alertó, y mientras estábamos cogiendo nuestras armas y llamar a la policía, los tres corriendo a su casa y se encontraban entre sus vehículos. No estoy seguro de si nuestro perro los asustó y decidió tratar de robar sus vehículos y, posiblemente, su casa en lugar o si se dieron cuenta de que había despertado y estaban tratando de ocultar.

Cuando se dieron cuenta de que podíamos verlos, comenzaron a postura vacilante, como si se debatían entre poner a prueba nuestra voluntad o tratar de correr. Cuando no dio marcha atrás y se muestran nuestras armas, dos de los tres empezaron a buscar una forma de ejecutar a través del campo al lado de la carretera, mientras que uno sigue la postura. Nosotros le informó de que la policía estaba en camino y que tenemos la intención de matarlo si él vino hacia nosotros. Él echó a correr.

Simplemente sentí que era lo correcto a hacer entre los vecinos para que le avise, por lo que sería consciente y preparado en caso de que haya perturbaciones futuras. Como no creo que usted habla Inglés y hablo muy poco español, busqué ayuda en la traducción de este con el fin de ser capaz de saber. Espero que esté bien comunicada. Si usted desea hablar más de esto, podemos encontrar una forma de comunicarse entre sí de manera más directa a través de alguien bilingüe en Inglés y Español y yo estaría feliz de hacerlo."









I translated that back through Google Translate, with my thought being if I was somehow lucky enough to get a clear and intelligible message back, then I was fortunate enough to choose original language that was properly and simply enough conveyed in Spanish that Google Translate might be sufficient. Needless to say, what came back leaves me lacking in confidence.


Here is that message:

"Lord,


This is ********, neighbor three houses down. I wanted to let you know that three young, either teenagers or young adults, were either trying to steal our car or tires outside last night at 2:20 am. Our dog alerted us, and while we were taking our guns and call the police, the three ran home and were among its vehicles. Not sure if our dog scared them and decided to try and steal their vehicles and possibly your home instead or if they realized that he had woken up and were trying to hide.

When they realized that we could see, began wavering stance, as if torn between test our will or try to run. When not backed down and displayed our weapons, two of the three began looking for a way to run through the field next to the road, while one is still the position. We informed him that the police were coming and that we intend to kill him if he came to us. He ran.

I just felt it was the right thing to do among neighbors to warn you, so be aware and prepared in case there are future shocks. As I do not think you speak English and I speak very little Spanish, I sought help in translating this to be able to know. I hope you are well connected. If you want to talk about this, we can find a way to communicate with each other more directly through someone bilingual in English and Spanish and I would be happy to oblige."







That really isn't satisfactory. That said, I cannot be sure the first translation from English to Spanish is unsatisfactory as I cannot read it. For all I know, the major degradation in comprehensive meaning may have occurred only in the attempt to translate back to English. If somebody who is fluent in both English and Spanish would either provide me a good translation of my original message or inform me if the Google translation from English to Spanish is sufficient, I would greatly appreciate the time and effort taken to do so.

I cannot easily communicate with these neighbors, but they have always come across as very good, decent people, and I won't feel satisfied about the whole situation until I have made sure they are properly alerted. Please take the time to help if you can, and thank you for your efforts.

[Rusty]

Welcome to the forums!

Here is my attempt. It's not word-for-word, but will get the message across.
If you want to wait for others to offer their translations, you're more than welcome.


~~~
Señor,

Soy ********, su vecino a tres casas de la suya. Quería hacerle saber que tres jóvenes, ya sean adolescentes o adultos jóvenes, intentaban robar o nuestro carro o los neumáticos de él ayer por la noche a las 2:20 a.m. Nuestro perro nos alertó, y mientras agarrábamos las armas y llamábamos la policía, los tres corrieron a la casa de usted, entre sus vehículos. No puedo decir si nuestro perro los asustó y decidieron robarle a usted en vez de nosotros o si se dieron cuenta de que nos habían despertado y trataban de esconderse.

Cuando se dieron cuenta de que podíamos verlos, comenzaron a vacilarse entre desafiarnos o huírse. Cuando no dieron marcha les mostramos nuestras armas y dos de los tres empezaron a buscar una forma de escaparse por medio del campo al lado de la carretera, mientras que uno siguió a postularse. Nosotros le informó de que la policía estaba en camino y que teníamos la intención de matarlo si él viniera hacia nosotros. Él echó a correr.

Sentí que era lo correcto avisarle, vecino a vecino, para que se diera cuenta y fuera preparado para perturbaciones futuras. Como no creo que usted hable inglés y como hablo muy poco español, busqué una traducción de este mensaje con el fin de darle a entender. Espero que esté bien comunicado. Si usted desea hablar más sobre esto, podemos encontrar una forma de comunicarnos de manera más directa por medio de alguien bilingüe. Estoy a sus órdenes."

[KantversusHume]

Thank you for your quick reply! Your translation already appears much more true to my original intent when I run it back through Google translate to English. I thank you profusely. Have a wonderful evening.

To anyone else reading this, please to not worry about translating this unless you merely wish to as practice honing your skills or whatnot. That said, I thank everyone else as well who took a look and were considering translating. All of you take care.

[Rusty]

You're welcome. May you and your vecino have a safe night.

[Kunstliebhaber]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Welcome to the forums!

Here is my attempt. It's not word-for-word, but will get the message across.
If you want to wait for others to offer their translations, you're more than welcome.


~~~
Señor,

Soy ********, su vecino a tres casas de la suya. Quería hacerle saber que tres jóvenes, ya sean adolescentes o adultos jóvenes, intentaban robar o nuestro carro o los neumáticos de él ayer por la noche a las 2:20 a.m. Nuestro perro nos alertó, y mientras agarrábamos las armas y llamábamos la policía, los tres corrieron a la casa de usted, entre sus vehículos. No puedo decir si nuestro perro los asustó y decidieron robarle a usted en vez de nosotros o si se dieron cuenta de que nos habían despertado y trataban de esconderse.

Cuando se dieron cuenta de que podíamos verlos, comenzaron a vacilarse entre desafiarnos o huírse. Cuando no dieron marcha les mostramos nuestras armas y dos de los tres empezaron a buscar una forma de escaparse por medio del campo al lado de la carretera, mientras que uno siguió a postularse. Nosotros le informó de que la policía estaba en camino y que teníamos la intención de matarlo si él viniera hacia nosotros. Él echó a correr.

Sentí que era lo correcto avisarle, vecino a vecino, para que se diera cuenta y fuera preparado para perturbaciones futuras. Como no creo que usted hable inglés y como hablo muy poco español, busqué una traducción de este mensaje con el fin de darle a entender. Espero que esté bien comunicado. Si usted desea hablar más sobre esto, podemos encontrar una forma de comunicarnos de manera más directa por medio de alguien bilingüe. Estoy a sus órdenes."

Excelent job, but I see one mistake there:

Nosotros le informó de que la policía
Le informamos que la policía...

If you say "nosotros" the past tense is "informamos" and using the preposition "de que" is a cliche in Spanish, which means that it's grammatically wrong and should be avoided to master the language.

It's like the typical sentence: Do you like them apples? It should be THOSE or THE but not THEM, however it's used a lot.

[Rusty]

Yes, that's correct. Thanks for having a look.